You’re right. And today we have an unusual lesson. We are waiting for special guests. They are the presidents, the subheads and the students of different schools abroad: Mirzhapur secondary school in India, Summerhill School in the UK, Woodlands Preparatory School in Texas, the USA, and Alice Springs School of the Air in Australia. We’re going to make all the arrangements and hold a press-conference. The topic of our press-conference is near pupils’ hearts through all over the world! It’s “School Life”. And we’re going to know about the special features of secondary education in different English-speaking countries.

“Gain knowledge, brothers! Think and read,

And to your neighbours’gifts pay heed,-

Yet do not thus neglect your own…” –

said great poet Taras Shevchenko in his eternal poem “My Friendly Epistle to the Dead, the Leaving and to those Yet Unborn, my Countrymen all who live in Ukraine and Outside Ukraine.” Everyone of you knows the Ukrainian equivalent. Now, my friends, you are to repeat these words and try to remember them.

– Students are repeating sounds [ð], [Ǿ], [g], then the words of the poem.

What do these words mean?

Pupil 1: We should pay our attention to the inventions, gains of different countries, but shouldn’t forget about our own ones.

T: To prepare for our conference we should revise the words according to our topic and complete the press-release, which makes our journalists to be interested in our press-conference. Your home task was to learn the names of the school subjects.

How many lessons have you got today? What lesson did you have before English? So, let’s check your home task.

T: And now we are going to help to our journalists to get ready for our press-conference. They should have the topic of it in absolute control. So, let’s give them an example of timetable in English school.

Imagine, you are students of Woodlands Preparatory school in Texas. Work in groups of three and write your perfect timetable for one day. Complete the timetable.

1

8.45 – 9.30

2

9.35 – 10.20

10.25 – 10. 45

Morning Break

3

10.45 – 11.30

4

11.35 – 12.20

12.20 – 1.30

Lunch Break

5

1.30 – 2.15

6

2.20 – 3.05

7

3.10 – 3.55

One student from each group shows their perfect timetable, using the substitution table.

(There are) four speakers: Indian, American, British and Australian schoolboys and schoolgirls. Come up and listen to the amazing things!

(There isn’t) any furniture in Indian schools, but (there is) a lot of motivation! (There is) a timetable, but you don’t have to go to the lessons in Summerhill School in England! (There isn’t) a teacher at the lessons at the Australian Schools of the Air! The teachers prepare lessons and send them to the students by post or e-mail.

T: Oh, I’ve got an e-mail! Our guests have arrived. Meet our guests! They’ll tell us about school life in their countries and about secondary education peculiarities there. You’ll get to know about wonderful and even strange things! And now we can start our press-conference

4.1. T: The president of Indian secondary school in a small village of Mirzhapur is the first speaker.

Pupil 1: Hello, everyone! Nice to meet you! My name is Abha Chakravarthy. I’m a president of a small school in Indian village of Mirzhapur and I’d like to tell you about our school.

Look around your own classroom. Are there any desks? Is there a noticeboard? Schools in large cities in India are the same. But outside the cities, they are often very different. The children in the photo go to a small school in my village Mirzhapur. Look at our classroom! There isn’t a noticeboard. There is a desk for the teacher, but there aren’t any desks for the children. In fact, there aren’t any chairs – the children sit on the floor. Everyone knows about Indian monsoons. It rains cats and dogs for three months! Teachers have problems, but there is a lot of fun for children. There is a pool in the school! So chairs and desks won’t be out of order after the first rain.

There is our canteen. Rice, masala and water are the main dishes. There are banana leaves instead of plates.

We have some books and a lot of motivation!

T: And now you may ask the questions, dear journalists.

Pupils:

Is there a uniform in your school? (Yes, there is. Its colours are white and blue.)

Are there any computers in your school? (No, there aren’t. We have no electricity.)

Pupil 1: But I’m not alone today. We’ve arrived with a famous Bollywood singer and film star Mr Cool. Let’s have a rest! Let’s sing and dance altogether! Dear guests, you can join us.

4.2. Physical warm-up. Relaxation. “Hokey-Pokey” song. (Додатки 2).

4.3. T: And now let’s listen to the second speaker. Her name is Mary McDougal . She’s a student of Summerhill school in the UK. Meet her!

Pupil 2: Good morning, dear friends! In England, children start secondary school at the age of 11. In the first two years of secondary school, all the students study the same 12 subjects. They are : English, Maths, Science, Design and Technology, Information and Communication Technology, History, Geography, a Foreign Language, Art and Design, Music, Citizenship and PE. When students are 14, they can choose the subjects that they like.

Summerhill school in England is a private school, and it’s very different from most other schools. There is a timetable, but students don’t have to go to the lessons. They sometimes play football instead! There is a meeting every week for all the children and teachers at the school, and they vote to decide the school rules there. The teachers and students all have to follow the rules.

Pupils (journalists):

Are there any compulsory subjects in English secondary schools or students must choose all their subjects? ( Some subjects are still compulsory, e.g. Maths, English, Science and PE.)

Does the head teacher have to follow the rules in Summerhill school? (Yes, she does.)

Pupil 2: Any questions? Thank you for your attention. You can visit our school. We’ll be glad to see you.

4.4. T: It’s time for the third speaker. She’s a Deputy President of Woodlands Preparatory School in the USA . It is a private school in Texas. Welcome, Miss Johnson!

Pupil 3: Good morning, dear guests and journalists! My school really has a President and a government. I’m a Deputy President and I’d like to tell you about American secondary education.

In the USA students start their secondary education at the age of 11. First they go to Middle School for three years. Then they go to High school for four years, from the age of 14 to 18. Some students leave school when they are 16 and find jobs. But most students stay at High School until they are 18.

All students at secondary schools in the USA study English, Maths, Science and P.E., but students choose other subjects, so they don’t all study the same subjects.

About 90% of students in the USA go to state schools. About 10% go to private schools.

And now I propose to watch a presentation of my school.

Students watch the presentation.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You may ask the questions.

Pupils (journalists):

Are there any public schools in the US? ( In America a public school is the same as a state school. In the UK, however, a public school is a very exclusive private school (e.g. Eton).

Is there Religious Education in American schools? ( Sure! Most of the private schools are religious. For example the Protestants schools include the Christian schools, the Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians etc. The religious schools teach Bible, pay heed to moral and ethical values.)

4.5. T: We’ve got a guest from Australia. He’s a student of an unusual Australian School of the Air. Meet John Osborn!

Pupil 4: Hi! Nice to meet you! Australia is an enormous country, but it has a population of only 20 million. Some families live on farms, hundreds of kilometers from a town or city. Children from these families can’t travel to school every day, so many of them use a special school: the Australian School of the Air.

I’m a student of Alice Springs School of the Air. There are twelve Schools of the Air in Australia and over 1, 000 students use them. The students haven’t got lessons in classrooms . The teachers of the Schools of the Air prepare lessons and send them to the students by post or e-mail. The students have to work on these lessons for five or six hours a day, from Monday to Friday. They send their work to the teachers once a week and discuss it by radio or over the Internet.

Once or twice a year, a teacher visits every student at home. The teacher spends a day with the students, helps them with their work and discuss problems.

That’s it. Do you want to know more?

Pupils (journalists):

Are there any meetings for students? (Teachers and students can meet at the Sports Carnival. It takes place once a year on playing fields in Alice Springs. It’s a great way for them to do sport together and to make friends.)

Is there a library in Alice Springs School of the Air? (Yes, there is. You can borrow books from the school library. The books arrive by post.)

T: Thank you, dear guests and journalists. Our press-conference is over. I hope, you’ve got a lot of interesting information for your articles. It will be your home task – to write an article about gymnasium “Nadiya” in Berdyansk, Ukraine, using “There is…/ are…”.

Let’s turn back to our gymnasium and compare some peculiarities of Ukrainian secondary education with the education in the English-speaking countries. Are there the same subjects?

Pupil 1: There are a lot of similar subjects: Maths, P.E., I.C.T., Science, English, Religious Education etc. But there aren’t such subjects as Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Bulgarian, Choreography.

Pupil 2: In these countries secondary education starts at the age of 11 like in Ukrainian schools. Ukrainian pupils go to the fifth form at 11.

Pupil 3: There is the president, the statute, the symbol and the hymn in Gymnasium “Nadiya” too, like in American Woodlands Preparatory School.

T: I have a proposition! Let’s sing our hymn and send it to Woodlands Preparatory school to establish contacts.

Students sing the hymn of gymnasium.

The Solemn Hymn of Gymnasium “Nadiya”.

My native home! You’re spreading out

The sea-gull’s wings at the Azov Sea.

Your name is hope and there isn’t any doubt

The Azov winds are guards for you, you should believe!

Every day for us’ without clouds.

Knowledge, friends, success is our gain!

“Hope” is the name and we are proud.

We’ll become a hope of all Ukraine!

The teacher sends the song by e-mail.

www. Woodlandsprep.org

5.2. Assessment. Reflection

T: Each of you has got self-checking cards. Think about your work and choose the appropriate variant.

Not very well

OK

Very well

The new words (subjects)

Usage of There is…/There are…

My participation in the press- conference

T: You have put marks to yourselves. Now, listen to my assessment.

T: It’s time to check: has your mood improved during the lesson? Come up and choose another stripe to stick it to our schedule of humour. You should remember the meanings of the colours!

Students stick their stripes.

T: Now look at the tree of knowledge and think about your part during the lesson. Find the suitable number of a man.